Acacia Africa will be adding a Nairobi Park Stay to its 2018 collection - a game drive in Nairobi National Park, Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage visit, return airport transfers, all food and drink and twin share ensuite accommodation at a tented camp (inside Nairobi National Park) included in the three day break.

Arno Delport, Sales & Marketing Manager at Acacia Africa comments, “A successful black rhino sanctuary, Nairobi National Park is the only protected area in the world with such a huge variety of animals and birds close to a capital city, the budget friendly safari extension ideal for travellers starting or ending a tour in Nairobi.”

The city is also a jumping off point for the new Standard Gauge Railway and its nonstop passenger train, the Madaraka Express. Operating twice daily between Nairobi and Mombasa, the railway has made the country’s coast and palm-fringed white sand beaches more accessible, the fare costing only 700 Kenyan shillings (around £6pp) for economy class and 3,000 Kenyan shillings (around £22pp) for first class.

Acacia Africa's three day Nairobi Park Stay is priced from £740pp. Daily departures available from 03 January 2018.

Tsessabe is excited to announce a wonderful fam trip to Kenya next month with our client - ATUA ENKOP AFRICA.

This is a wonderful opportunity to see and experience parts of Kenya which will give you an experience you will not forget as well as an insight on selling this wonderful destination.

This is at an amazing rate of only £550 per person!

ITINERARY:

26th November Depart on KQ 101 at 17h25

27th NovemberArrive in Nairobi at 05h00Transferred to Mbweha Camp Lake Nakuru arriving in time for lunch.Dinner and overnight at Mbweha Camp

28th NovemberMorning Soysambu Experience followed by lunch and afternoon game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park.Dinner and overnight at Mbweha Camp

29th NovemberAfter breakfast depart for the Masai Mara.Arrive at Tipilikwani Camp in time for late lunch.Dinner and overnight at Tipilikwani Mara Camp

30th NovemberFull day of game activities.Dinner and overnight at Mara Ngenche Safari Camp

1st DecemberMorning game drive.Depart for flight to Wilson Airport Nairobi for flight to Mombasa at 15h30/16h30On arrival at Mombasa you will transfer to Kilifi on the north coast.Dinner and overnight at Silver Palm Spa and Resort

2nd DecemberBreakfast , lunch and dinner at Silver Palm and Resort

3rd DecemberBreakfast and depart for Mombasa airport and flight to Nairobi JKIA at 11h40/12h40Overnight at a Nairobi Hotel - TBA

On September 1, Kenya’s Supreme Court nullified the recent general election, which was held on August 8 and returned President Uhuru Kenyattato power.

The court found that the election had been tainted by irregularities and indicated that the electoral body had conducted the elections contrary to the dictates of the constitution and polls laws.

Since then, both parties have reassured Kenyans and the international community that they will respect the Supreme Court judgment, irrespective of the ruling.

A press release issued by the Kenya Tourism Federation (KTF) stated that both parties had adhered to their promise by addressing a press conference to reassert their initial position.

The ruling now means that Kenyans will once again go to the ballot but this time only for the contested seat of the President. The law clearly states that a repeat poll must happen within 60 days.

KTF said everything was calm in Nairobi and all major towns, including all tourist circuit routes.

“To all our agents around the world, rest assured of normalcy and everything is running as usual. We are still in peak season for the safari circuit and we look forward to welcoming more charters to the beach sector as winter approaches in Europe,” say Mohammed Hersi, Chairman of the KTF.

The nullification of the election was a monumental moment for Kenyans, as the last disputed presidential election in 2007 ended in bloodshed with at least 1 300 people dead and 600 000 displaced, this according to New York Times.

However this time, the Kenyan political landscape, including the president, appeared to have accepted the decision, calling on supporters to follow suit.

The ruling displayed an example of judicial independence in Africa, as courts on the continent often fall under pressure from political leaders.

“It’s a historic moment showing the fortitude and courage of the Kenyan judiciary,” said Dickson Omondi, a Country Director for the National Democratic Institute, a nonpartisan organisation that supports democratic institutions and practices worldwide, according to the New York Times.

Wausi Walya, Public Relations and Corporate Communications Manager for the Kenya Tourism Board, told Tourism Update that she anticipated that the re-election would not impact tourism in any form. “It will not affect movement in and out of Kenya…and it has not affected business in any way.”

Kenya is currently marking the lifting of travel advisories cautioning travellers about the country’s coast. The advisories were issued in the wake of incidents of terrorism in the recent past.

On the back of that, the country’s tourism Cabinet Secretary, Najib Balala, has announced a budget for developing beach product and marketing the coast. In addition, tourism players have discussed the formation of a tourism management company to enhance beach product in Mombasa, Diani, Malindi, Watamu and the Lamu archipelago.

Fatma Bashir, Regional Marketing Manager for the Kenya Tourism Board said that over and above improving security on the coast, measures to enhance the flow of tourists to the region have included allocating KES1.2bn to a Charter Incentive that aims to recover lost business from tourist charters. Traditionally, charters from Europe have been a strong generator of visitors to the coast.

Under the programme, all tourist charters with passengers terminating at Moi International Airport in Mombasa and Malindi Airport, will enjoy a waiver of landing fees. They will also benefit from a US$30 passenger subsidy per seat filled by international passengers who terminate or disembark in Kenya until June 30, 2018.

Infrastructurally, Bashir said there were plans for the construction of a bridge linking Mombasa Island and the south coast. This project would ensure efficient tourist transfers between Diani resorts and Mombasa.

Further, the building of a cruise docking berth to enhance the cruise tourism segment was picking up, following improved security in the Indian Ocean waters.

A ban on plastic carrier bags has come into force in Kenya, which means that anyone found selling, manufacturing or carrying them could face fines of up to $38,000 or prison sentences of up to four years.

The government says the ban will help protect the environment.

But manufacturers of the bags have argued that 80,000 jobs could be lost.

A court on Friday rejected a challenge to the ban. Kenyans are estimated to use 24 million bags a month.

Several other African countries have outlawed plastic carrier bags, including Rwanda, Mauritania and Eritrea.

Kenya's ban is seen as one of the toughest in the world, although officials say that for now, ordinary shoppers will be warned and have their bags confiscated.

Piles of waste plastic bags are a common site across Kenya, as in many African countries.

Animals often graze on the rubbish and the United Nations' Environment Programme says huge amounts of polythene bags are pulled out of livestock in Nairobi's abattoirs - as many as 20 bags per cow - raising fears of plastic contamination in beef.

Kenya's Environment Minister Judy Wakhungu says the plastic bags take between 20 and 1,000 years to biodegrade.

"Plastic bags now constitute the biggest challenge to solid waste management in Kenya. This has become our environmental nightmare that we must defeat by all means," she told the BBC.

Kenyans are slowly getting used to carrying their shopping using bags made from materials other than plastic.

At a local supermarket, I saw a man stuff a bunch of unwrapped spinach into his backpack. Other customers bought bags made from fabric for 10 Kenyan shillings (10 US cents; 7 British pence).

The $38,000 fine with the alternative of a four-year jail term has many people preferring to comply with the ban.

The National Environment Management Authority (Nema) says that enforcement officers can, for now, only confiscate plastic bags but not arrest offenders.

Reports say traders in the city's main meat market are still using plastic bags.

Others say people are using old sacks, newspapers and envelopes.

When these are not available, consumers are said to be carrying their goods with their bare hands.

Travellers coming into Kenya with duty-free plastic shop bags will be required to leave them at the airport under the new rules, Nema has said.

This is the third attempt in the past 10 years to ban plastic bags in Kenya.

The government had given a six-month window for adjustment which expired on Sunday night.

Manufacturers who use polythene to wrap products are exempted from the ban.

In its ruling last week, the High Court dismissed a case filed by two plastic bags importers urging it to drop the ban. The court ruled that environmental concerns were more important than commercial interests.

Research in Europe has shown that a paper bag must be used three times to compensate for the larger amount of carbon used in manufacturing and transporting it.

Likewise a plastic "bag for life" must be used four times, and a cotton bag must be used 131 times.

East Africa's migration is on the move, you can now ride horses with rhinos at Ol Pejeta, there's a fantastic new special offer for Mivumo Villa in the Selous and there have been major refurbs at Nairobi Serena, Dar es Salaam Serena and at the Polana Mar in Maputo. Serena Mountain Lodge in Kenya also has a fantastic new kids club. Check out the full stories and more on this link.

The journey towards direct flights between Kenya and the US has reached the homestretch with the government opening up Jomo Kenyatta International airport for a final safety audit. Kenyans seeking to travel to the US for leisure and businessmen will, however, have to wait longer for exact flight dates, which are hinged on a scheduled audit of the airport’s compliance by American aviation authorities.

Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has set July as its deadline for meeting all the conditions set by the US government for approval of direct flights between Nairobi and Washington. The authority will next month write a letter to Federal Aviation Administration requesting for a comprehensive review of the country’s preparation to handle the flights.

“We only have one or two items remaining known as critical elements and on these, we are on the last one, which our officers are currently working on,” said KCAA director-general Gilbert Kibe. He said the airport has achieved a 90 per cent level of compliance on a long process that had numerous considerations including technical aspects, safety and security.

“There are challenges in complying because the standards expected are extremely high. It is the state of Kenya that will be given the category one status,” said Kibe. In two previous audits conducted in 2013 and 2014, Kenya scored 66 per cent and 78 per cent respectively.

Security concerns at JKIA have been a key hindrance to concluding the process. Upon meeting satisfactory levels of compliance, FAA will fly its audit team to award Kenya an International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) audit that would grant the airport the much-coveted category one status.

KCAA expressed confidence it will clinch the category one certification before year end but remained non-committal on real commencement date for direct flights between the two nations. “We are going to invite them (FAA) in July to do their final comprehensive review.

We should have completed final stages before we get an audit date on when they will come. From there, we will be at their mercy as far as the actual date will be,” said Kibe. The US wanted Kenya to separate passenger arrivals from departure terminals, clearance of flight paths and fencing off of the airport to boost security.

The tourism sector is set to be a major beneficiary of the developments with increased confidence on level of recovery and easing of insecurity in the country. “We have a lot of interest in direct Delta flights to Kenya but a lot of bureaucracy still hampers the process. The Civil Aviation Bill still needs some amendments,” said Tourism Cabinet secretary Najib Balala.

The Kenyan Government has earmarked more than $40 million for tourism promotion in a bid to revive the industry.

Earlier this month, Kenya’s National Treasury Minister, Henry Rotich, said the Government had allocated over $40 million for the financial year 2016/2017 to be spent on marketing the East African country to woo more international tourists.

Rotich added that tourism had declined as a result of travel advisories that were issued by the US, UK, France and Australia following terror attacks that occurred in the country in 2014.

To help the sector recover, the Minister said the Government had committed the $40 million-plus for promotion plus incentives. “The tourism sector is on a recovery path, owing to security improvement that resulted in the lifting of travel advisories by our key source markets,” Rotich said.

He confirmed that the Government would continue to improve the country’s security for the safety of locals and visitors for them to enjoy their holidays.

Last month, Kenyan Tourism Minister, Najib Balala, had assured tourism players that the Government would allocate a substantial amount of funds for marketing in international markets. Balala said a bulk of the funds would be spent on key markets such as the UK, US, Italy, France and Spain as well as emerging markets of Eastern Europe and Asia.

Tourism players welcomed the Government’s allocation of over $40 million, saying it would boost marketing campaigns in overseas markets.

Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers Coast Executive Officer, Sam Ikwaye, said the funding would be a great support to the Government and the private sector’s efforts to revive the industry. Over the years, he added, the Kenya Tourism Board used to be allocated only $5 million for marketing, adding that the extra funding would help intensify the agency’s campaigns.

Ikwaye called on the Ministry of Tourism and KTB to target markets that favour Kenya to help the country to attract more international holidaymakers.